New Delhi: The UPA-2 government will announce the appointment of not just one but two Service chiefs in the next few weeks before it moves out of office in mid of May this year.
Even as the Centre is expected to take a final decision soon on appointment of the next Navy chief, the proposed appointment of current Army vice-chief Lt. Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next Army chief is also at an advanced stage, well-placed government sources said.
The current Army chief General Bikram Singh retires on July 31 this year. Usually, the next Army chief is appointed about two months in advance of the retirement of the current chief.
However, when Gen. Bikram Singh’s name was announced as the next Army chief in 2012, it was done about three months in advance of the retirement date of the then chief Gen. V.K. Singh who retired on May 31, 2012.
This time, similarly, if the name of the next Army chief is announced three months in advance of Gen. Bikram Singh’s retirement date, it would be around May 1 this year when the UPA-2 will still be in office. However, if it is announced two months in advance, it would be around June 1 by when the next government would take over.
Sources, however, said that the Centre has already made up its mind to announce the name of the next Army chief before it bows out of the office. This means that the appointment could be announced by about May 1. Going by all available indications, Lt. Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag is almost certain to be appointed as the next Army chief.
Also, the Centre is expected to take a decision on appointment of the next Navy chief within 10 days. This follows the resignation of Admiral D.K. Joshi as Navy chief a few weeks ago.
It is widely expected that the next Navy chief will be either Western Naval Command chief Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha who is the senior-most serving naval officer currently, or the current naval vice-chief and officiating chief Vice-Admiral R.K. Dhowan who is the second senior-most officer or Eastern Naval Command chief Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra.
